What is it about winter that turns our minds to cruising?

Seriously though, as soon as January comes the first thing on my mind is cruising. I suppose it should be a New Years resolution but I've given up on those. My mind works in a circle...family, cruising, work, cruising, friends, cruising. It's so sad really. The worst part is that I don't have a cruise booked.

Building a house and buying a camper have put a serious dent into the finances. I'm going through serious withdrawals and it's not pretty. I have a lustful need to cruise. For me planning a trip is like foreplay. Getting on the plane and spending the night in the port city is orgasmic, the sailaway is that post coital cigarette. (and I don't even smoke!)

Not to sound R-rated, but that's what cruising is like for me. Don't get me wrong, my God and family are number 1 and 2. Cruising is definitely number 3.

Am I the only one that feels like this?
Happy Cruising, Mary

Carnival Splendor, what a media blitz!

It's really too bad for the people on board Splendor, to be looking forward to a vacation and have this happen. However, after what I've seen and read on the cruise boards, it looks like they did absolutely everything possible with what they had.

I feel the worst for the elderly, the sick, those who fell and needed crutches with no elevators. For the parents of young children - you deserve a medal as well! This was a serious problem and I'm not making light of it.

For the 'have fun cruising no matter what" I commend you. I would have had fun as well. Green beans or beets, just let me at the pool deck.

Anyone not wanting their free cruise, keep me in mind!

Happy Cruising, Mary

Ok, so I've been busy.......

Wow, it's been awhile.

Life post cruise is always tough, no one is waiting on me hand and foot and I actually have to go to work. It's cold albeit sunny which is nice, but I sure miss those balmy Caribbean breezes. Worst yet, I know we can't afford to take a cruise in 2010 since our new home really needs to be finished inside. Sigh. However, life is good so I'll quit my complaining.

What's new in the cruising world? Oasis of the Seas. This innovative and stunningly HUGE ship is on it's way from the shipyard in Turku, Finland and on it's way to it's home port of Port Canaveral, Florida. There are daily video's on www.oasisoftheseas.com and they are incredibly interesting. I'm addicted of course!

This ship is so different from anything out there. It has neighborhoods on the ship with greenery and lush trees. Central Park is one and Boardwalk is another. It gives a nice twist from the standard inside stateroom, oceanview, balcony and suite. You can overlook Central Park and the levitating (3 decks!) bar, shops and eateries. In Boardwalk, you can overlook the full size carousel and other shops, bars and eateries. You can have an Aquatheatre stateroom that overlooks the aft of the ship where thrilling water shows will happen. You can get a loft stateroom - yes, a two story stateroom with huge glass windows. Another first!

There's so many different and new items about this ship that I could type all day. However, look for yourself. Oasis of the Seas - what an amazing ship. I wish I was booked on her. Guess I'll have to live vicarously through those that are taking her maiden voyage on December 5th and read about it at the cruise boards.

Happy Sailing!
Mary

We're back and rested but...

Liberty of the Seas was an amazing ship. I mean amazing. We had such a wonderful time, from the moment we touched down in Miami, stayed at the Epic Hotel (which was FAB), and of course the cruise.

Our forward balcony stateroom was fantastic. A little tight with the three of us but not bad. Jake had so much to do with the teen group that we hardly ever saw him, except at dinner. After about 3-4 nights he didn't even want to have dinner with us but with his friends. Michael and I really enjoyed ourselves. The shows were fantastic, the food delicious, the solarium (adult only) pool was our haven.

The sad part is, we can't afford to cruise next year as we have to do the finish work on our new home. Oh bugger! In the meantime I think I'll start a website with cruise info just for fun. Give me something to do other than work!!

Happy cruising,
Mary

2 more days! Liberty of the Seas here we come!!

YESSSSS! Today is my last day of work! I can remember when my coundown was about 8 months and some odd days, and now we're down to 2!!

I've gotten my hair cut, getting my nails done today, getting Jake new clothes (and thanks MOM for taking him on a shopping trip!!) and got the suitcases down last night.

Tomorrow I'm off work, so I can do all the last minute things I need to do including PACKING! I hate packing but I will have to do it tonight or tomorrow. I just received our air reminder to log in tomorrow and print off our boarding passes.

I tried to get an upgrade with RCCL since this is Jake's first cruise and I want it to be perfect for him, but that was a no go. I received a very polite brush off letter. Bummer. The thing is, there are suites still available onboard, even a Jr. Suite would be great for cabin size with the 3 of us. Oh well. Apparently the word is out that NCL does a better job of upgrading and since we've had one (as new clients to NCL) I guess that's true!! However, I still love RCCL ships more than any other.

I have to pack, must pack but before I do it's nice to take a minute and just breathe and think about the open ocean. Ahhhh..I love cruising!

PS: HUGE thanks to Rich for taking on the responsibility of the farm and staying at our house while we're gone. YAY!

Liberty - here we come

Shortly we'll be cruising on our gorgeous ship. We have a wonderful guy staying at our home and maintaining the farm. I feel better having someone there 24/7. Not to mention everyone else on the farm will be there.

We are in the single digits and wow, I'm getting so excited!!! Can't wait to see you Miss Liberty!!

2 weeks!!

Two weeks today we'll be bleary-eyed as we fly from Pellston at 6:30am on our way to Miami. I can't wait to go to Bayside, walk around and eat at Bubba Gump or Hard Rock. ( Unless we eat at our hotel, The Epic.)

Then two weeks from tomorrow we'll be boarding Liberty of the Seas. Can't wait!!

17 days!

OH MY GOSH. I'm freaking out. 17 days until our cruise and I have nothing done. So much to do and not much time to accomplish it since I'm at the Cheboygan County Fair all week. ugh.
Today Jake is at the Fair and he's having a BLAST. I'm sure he's riding all the rides as I type.

17 days til blissful cruising. Can't wait!

3 weeks!!!

We're down to 3 weeks and now I'm actually starting to panic about getting things done! I can't do a thing until the 16th of August since we have the ^%$#! fair. Sorry - long day.
Oh that cruise is going to be THAT much sweeter. I cannot wait. I have to make some things for the meet & mingle, but other than that I can't WAIT.

I'll miss my babies at home, our cats and horses of course. Not enough to stay home though!!!

23 Days...and counting

Our meet & mingle is now at 111 people! I'm so amazed at how many will be on our cruise. I'm very excited about it as there are a lot of teens so Jake will have plenty of new friends to hang out with!

Because the fair is imminent, it will make at least 10 days fly by quickly. That's a good thing because I'm so excited!

Happy Sailing!
Mary

Fees for checked luggage...grrr.

We have our flights coming up for our cruise and it just makes me mad to pay to check our bags. I mean, isn't that part of our flight fee? Raise the flights then but don't charge me to check my bags.

Chris Elliott says: Airlines earned $566 million from checked baggage fees in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That?s more than four times as much as it collected for the same period a year before.
http://www.elliott.org/blog/5-outrageous-luggage-fee-myths-the-airlines-want-you-to-believe/

Isn't that ridiculous??? And the money comes from us - hard working people trying to pay our bills. Trying to afford vacations...I am so ticked at this.

What do y'all think?

25 Days!

Twenty five days until our cruise. I'm looking forward to it like you can't believe. This is our busy, busy time of year. The Fair takes up 90% of our time the 3 weeks preceding it and all of our time once we're at the fair.

However, 2 weeks post fair I'll be on the ship, and that makes me able to put up with all the rest. Jake is getting so psyched and already has two emails of teens his age so he can get to know them. I am extremely excited for HIM. He has no idea how much fun he's going to have and I want this to be extra-special for him. Mike and I will have fun no matter what.

25 days...go by quickly!!